caus'd large Pitts to be digg'd and then commanded the Christians to be burnt therein in heaps as it were for quicker dispatch Three hundred and forty perish'd in this manner in the City of (x) Negra by Niceph. Cullisto l. 18. c. 6. by others Najram Nagra together with St. Areta entomb'd in Fire Caleb being admonish'd by the Patriarch would not endure so much barbarous Cruelty but with an Army of a Hundred and twenty thousand Men and a Navy of 423 Vessels he cross'd over into Arabia and having vanquish'd Dunawas he he utterly destroy'd the Kingdom of the Homerites restor'd Nagra to the Christians and made St. Areta's Son Governor of the place To Dunawas succeeded Abreha Elasbram Jacsum F. Masruk F. but their Kingdom remain'd Seventy two years under the Yoke of the Habessines After these Saif-ibn-Di-Jazan of the race of the Homerites by the assistance of Anusherwan King of the Persians recover'd the Throne of his Ancestors but was soon after slain by the Abessines However the Persians at that time prevalent set up over the Sabeans other Kings whom the Abessines oppos'd and some they slew And thus this Kingdom harrass'd with continual Wars between the Persians and the Habessines at length when the Saracens began to grow powerful under Bazen the last King became tributarie to Mahomet And by this perhaps we are to understand what Abdelbachides writes concerning a Nagash of the Abessines whom he calls Atzhama as if he had revolted to Islamisin at the invitation of Mahomet But these things are confused and imperfectly delivered by the Arabes Greehes and Latins and besides that the diversity of names adds obscurity to the History For as to those Acts which Procopius attributes to Hellesthiaeus King of Ethiopia as if he having slain the King of the Homerites of which many were Jews set up another in his place Emsiphaeus by name and a Christian those things are proper to none but Caleb in regard that Kingdom being destroy'd by Caleb could not be again subverted by Ellesthiaeus But as for those things which are reported by Cedrenus and Nicephorus of Adad or David a certain Ethnic King of the Indian Axumites who demolish'd the Kingdom of the Homerites and by occasion of a former vow became a Christian they are altogether false For that there is no other History than that which we have related of Caleb to this purpose we shall hereafter declare when we came to discourse of the Original Christianity in Ethiopia For that the corrupt names of Damian of Damnus from Dunaam or Dunawas and other Circumstances demonstrate But 't is no wonder the History of the Homerites should be so confus'd among Strangers when the Arabians themselves complain that among all other Histories that of the Homerites is the most imperfect Our Poet before cited thus praises Caleb in the following Lines Peace be to Caleb who with the Lawrel wreath'd Behind him left such Monuments of his Power To Salem he his Royal Crown bequeath'd An Offering to his dreaded Saviour For he great Hero from his mighty deeds Vain glory scorn'd that proud ambition feeds The dismal Slaughter of Sabean Host So dismal that not one alive remain'd Swell'd not his thoughts of Victory to boast Yet glad to see his Sword so nobly stain'd Glad that by him the Homerites enslav'd Martyrs were now reveng'd and Christians sav'd Concerning the Martyrs of Nagra the same Poet goes on thus Your beauteous Starrs of Nagra I salute Such Themes would force loud Language from the Mute You brightly shine before the Mercy-Seat And like rich Gemms the world illuminate Oh may your Lustre reconcile my Sin Before the Judge of what my Crimes have bin Shew him your blood which you for him have spilt And beg Pacification for my Guilt To Caleb succeeded Gebra-Meskel or the Servant of the Cross so nam'd at his Baptism whom the Poet thus honours Peace to thee also King of high renown That in the Strength of God so much hast won Yet with thanksgiving to thy heavenly Lord Didst still ascribe the Trophies of thy Sword Concord and Peace adorn'd thy happy daies Thy reign resounded only Hymns of praise Glory to God thy Pious Cares oblieged And Peace on Earth from fear of thee proceeded The next to him in the Ethiopian Liturgy are Constantine and Fresenna or the good Fruit. Then followed an Interruption or discontinuance of this Line in the time of Delnoad who reigned about the year of Christ 960. But then the Scepter was usurp'd by another Race of which we are next to discourse CHAP. V. Of the Zagaean Line and the Kings that descended from that Race The Zagaean Line originally from the wickedness of a woman the Successors uncertain yet some of them very Famous UPon the Death of Delnoad the Zagean Family invaded the Kingdom and enjoy'd it Three Hundred and Forty years They first obtain'd it by the devices of a wicked Woman (b) The word signifies Fire Essat by Name Stigmatiz'd for Unchastity Sacriledge and Avarice in the highest degree Her Successors are uncertain and the Names which Marianus Victor produces together with the several years of their Reigns are very much to be suspected to omit what Tellezius learnedly writes That the Queens are never inserted in the Catalogues of those that Reign Nevertheless Victorius nominates one Tredda-Gadez who Murder'd all the Posterity of the Salomonean Family that he might Establish the Kingdom to his Son Yet in the mid'st of the Slaughter there was one young Lad of the Royal Blood who making his Escape to the Lords of the Kingdom of Shewa most passionately zealous for the Salomonean Line was there privately preserv'd The Kings of this Line are very enviously traduc'd by Tellezius as unjust and unworthy to be remember'd tho it has honour'd Ethiopia with many Renowned Monarchs of whom there is still a happy Memorial both in the Ethiopic Liturgy and among the Encomiums of my Poet as Degna Michael and Newaja-Christos or the Wealth of Christ who never appears in Victorius's Catalogue However he is thus Praised by the Poet. Peace to Newaja from whose Royal Loins Illustrious Princes born for high designs Ennobling more their high Descent his Praise Advanc'd and thence their own Renown did raise No wonder he dy'd Poor his Zeal was such He stript himself his Temple to enrich Himself had built the House of God and scorn'd To leave God's House behind him unadorn'd But the most famous and most renowned for his Magnificent Structures was (c) Alvarez makes mention of him c. 54. and 55. where he relates the same Story of the swarm of Bees Lalibala whose future Greatness was portended by a Swarm of Bees that while he was an Infant newly born lighted upon his tender Body without doing him the least prejudice Of him the Poet thus sings To mighty Lalibala Peace Who stately Structures rear'd And to adorn the Pompous piles For no Expences spar'd By vast Expence and hideous pains The Rock a
friendship cannot long remain in one and the same Brest and that the fruit of Treason being reap'd there is no farther need of the Traitor the King commanded him to be apprehended and carried away into the steep Mountain of Gueman in the Kingdom of Gojam He would not put him to death as not believing it became a noble Prince to take away a mans life for fear of a future crime But he making his Escape about a year after invaded Waleka where having gather'd together some Troops of Vagabonds and dissolute Persons he supported himself by Robbery and Rapine till at last making his Incursions into Gojam he was there slain by the Pagans His head being brought to the King was fix'd upon a Lance and set up before the Royal Pavillion to be view'd by all the World no man pitying his misfortune in regard that all people knew his advancement had cost the loss of so many innocent lives Not so inglorious was the end of Ras-Athanasius and yet sufficiently miserable For he every day losing more and more of the Kings favour was at length the contempt of all men Insomuch that his wife the daughter of Malec-Saghed unaccustom'd to brook indignities forsook his bed Thus once the next to Supream authority now the next to most dejected misery not able to o'recome the anguish of his mind he fell into a Fever of which he dy'd But Susneus to establish himself in his Dominion by all ways courted the friendship of the Portugueses as being skilful in the art of Gunnery and Fire-arms the chiefest terror of those Nations hoping that not without reason by their assistance to defend himself as well against his own Subjects too much addicted to Tumults and Seditions as the Kindred and Friends of the slain Kings And not only so but to render himself formidable to the Gallans To that purpose he kindly receiv'd the Fathers of the Society then living in Dembea He sent for Peter-Pays and most courteously gave ear to him and treated him as his familiar Friend And as he was favourable and bountiful to them so did he dayly afford many testimonies of his kindness to the rest of the Portugueses and the more to oblige them he set up the Latin Religion nothing terrify'd by the example of Za-denghel And indeed the Fathers had such a power over him that at length he surrender'd himself to the Pope and together with his Son sware obedience to him as Universal Bishop and Vicar of Christ abrogating the Religion of Alexandria Which was afterwards the occasion of horrid uproars bloody wars and the slaughter of many great Personages But the possession of a Kingdom won by the Sword seldom enjoys a perfect tranquility especially when the death of the Predecessor comes be in question For presently that is to say the very next year up starts a counterfeit Jacob who alarum'd all Habessinia with the fear of a new War Some there were that acknowledg'd they both knew and saw the dead body of King Jacob after the blood was wip'd away but no man durst assert himself to be the Person that kill'd him The Counterfeit therefore addresses himself to the Monks of the famous Monastery of Bizan in the prefecture of Bahrnagassus where he remain'd and to hide the fraud as if his face had bin disfigur'd with his wounds went always vail'd Nor was it long before his Story was believ'd Not so much out of respect to his own Person as out of malice to Susneus whom they hated as a Person that was unknown to them and by his exilement inur'd to the Savage Customs of the Gallans Neither were they pleas'd with Raas-Seelech his brother by the Mother's side whom he had made Viceroy of Tigra whom they look'd upon also as a forraigner So that he not being able himself to quell the Disturbances the King was forc'd to advance himself But the Rebels having intelligence of his coming fled several ways to avoyd fighting Their Captain with only four of his Associates and some few Goats which he carry'd with him for their milks sake secur'd themselves by a painful Pilgrimage through the most wild and uncouth concealments of Nature that the Rocks could afford him where it was impossible to trace him So that the King dispairing after a tedious search to find him out return'd to Dembea and having solemniz'd his Inauguration at Axuma after the ancient Custom of the Country he made Ansalax Governor of Tigra in the room of his Brother who afterwards by the help of two Noblemen that counterfeited themselves their friends having apprehended the Rebels put them to death But what was more strange our Europe it self could not some time after discern an Aethiopian Counterfeit of the same name For in the Year 1631. a certain Impudent Counterfeit by the names of (i) For so the Ethiopic word Tzaga Christos is pronounced There is a Relation of this Person extant Entitl'd The Strange Accidents of the Travels of His Highness Prince Zaga-Christ of Ethiopia c. very absurd and full of Fables Tzagax assuming to himself to be the Son of Jacob came into France and producing several Recommendatory Letters and Certificates from the Credulous Monks of Palestine was taken for a Great Prince and expell'd Heir to the Kingdom of Ethiopia and Entertain'd with a large Pension from the King after the Example of some of the Princes of Italy which is to consider what may be Correspondent with their Munificence toward an Exile of so great Dignity rather then to enquire who he really is Which was to be admir'd For that both at Rome and in Portugal there were at that time extant several annual Relations by which it was apparent that Jacob was slain in Battel Young and never marry'd above Twenty years before But that which added to the Credit of the Impostor was his graceful Presence with a Countenance wherein Seriousness and Frankness were wonderfully intermix'd that while he kept company with other Princes as Bochart himself told me he seem'd to excel them all both for beauty of form and sweetness of disposition and particularly that his Majestick Aspect strook all his beholders with admiration Whether that Beauty were really in his Person or whether the Novelty of the thing or the Opinion that he was of the Race of Salomon byass'd their Judgments Tho otherwise no reason could be given why he acted the part of the Son of an Ethiopian King unless it were to contend with (k) Relating to the Daughters of Thespius Hercules or (l) See Suetonius in Claud. Juvenal Sat. 6. Tacit. Annal. l. XI Plin. X. 23. Messalina for the prize of most enormous Lust And indeed it may be thought that fearing his Imposture should be discover'd he rather chose to bring himself to his end by the pleasing debaushes of Luxury than to fall under the Hangman Being dead he was branded with this Epitaph Cy gist le Roy d'Ethiopie L'Original ou la Copie Here lyes the King
Church became The Roof the Floor the squared Sides All one continu'd Frame No stones in blended Mortar lay'd The solid parts divide Nature has carved all without Within the Workman's Pride But newly born and hardly swath'd The tender Infant lay When strait a Wonder that portends The Honour of that day A Swarm of Bees Prophetic swarm His Princely Head surround Thus Jove himself on Ida Mount The Martial Insect Crown'd It was their Errand thus to shew The grandeur of the Child That he should Conquer and Command And yet be wondrous mild That done as if by sight the face Of Majesty they knew With such a fear as aw'd their stings Away again they flew This great Monarch when he came to Rule sent for Artists out of Egypt and after a wonderful and unheard of manner of Building to that day he did not cement Stones or Bricks together with Lime or Lome nor joyn the Roof together with Rafters but hollow'd whole solid Rocks leaving Pillars for Ornament where Pillars were requisite the Arches and Walls being all of the same Stone Nor do the Rocks of Ethiopia withstand that kind of Structure for that most of them advance equilaterally toward the Sky as if they had bin squar'd by Art and besides the Stone is so soft and tender that the Tools of the Artists easily make their way Alvarez gives an accompt of Ten Temples fram'd after this wonderful manner which were Four and twenty years finishing He saw them all and gives you a draught of them in Picture and lest any one should doubt of the Truth of what he says he confirms his Relation with an Oath This Magnificent King reign'd Forty years and after him his Son Imra rul'd as many The last of this Race was Naacueto-Laab Of him the Poet thus Hail Naacueto-Laab thy Renown I sing and all the Glories of thy Crown In Peace and Love which thou didst love thy Raign Concord and Peace did mutually sustain And thnt no fear of Death might him dismay God plac'd him where there is no end of Day CHAP. VI. Of the Salomonean Line restor'd again by Icon-an-lac The Salomonean Family restor'd The Successors of Icon-Im lac Etana-Denghel preferred before his Elder Brother Helena a Woman of a great Spirit David's various Fortune Claudius succeeds him who restores his ruin'd Kingdom by the Assistance of the Portugueses His Encomium and miserable Death The Succession decided by Arms. Menas succeeds his Cruelty Bahrnagassus revolts Malac-Seghed succeeds better than his Father Prosperous in War not in Marriage He designs his Brother his Successor but repents and Prefers his Natural Son Jacob He recommends his lawful Son to the Nobility upon his Death-Bed but they Imprison him Susneus in the same Danger but Escapes They make Jacob a Child King afterwards Depose him and place Za-Dengel in his room his Mildness and Fortitude a bold act of his His Kindness to Pays and the Latins cause him to be hated A Conspiracy against him he Consults the Portugueses despised the Counsel of Pays He loses the Day and dies in the Field THE Zagean Family being thus Extinct about the year of Christ 1300. The Nobility of Shewa restor'd Icon-Imlac a Prince of the Salomonean Race to the Scepter of his Ancestors whose Posterity have continu'd in Habessinia to our time Tellezius reckons up Sixteen Kings to Zar-a-Jacob (d) In his Accompt of Sacred Times L. VI. Vlt. Success c. 44. which we shall insert out of Vecchietti adding the Ethiopic Names of them which we have found mention'd in the Liturgy or elsewhere Icon-amlac or as the Ethiopians write him 1. Aycuna-amiac 2. Jagrea-Tzegon 3. Bahar Sarda 4. Esbraad 5. Cadem-Saghed 6. Zen-Saghed 7. Vdimrad 8. Amde Tzegon 9. Scifaarad 10. Udmaasfan 11. David 12. Theodorus Of whom the Poet thus makes mention in his 29 Encomium June 3. Hail Theodore wide Ethiopia's King Thee by thy Name Anbasa must I sing For thee thy Mother Tzejon-Mogusa T' adorn thy great Inauguration Day Whole Heards of Sheep and fatted Oxen stew And not she only for the Clouds to shew Themselves contributary to thy Feast Rain'd Fish from Heaven to supply the rest 13. Isaac 14. Andreas 15. Hesbinaani whose Son was 26. Amde-Jesus To him succeeded Zar-a-Jacob by the Name of his Inauguration Constantine An Emperor of great Renown and inquisitive after Foreign Affairs for he sent his Ambassadors to the Council of Florence of which more in due place Baeda-Marjam as I Collect out of Alvarez came to the Crown about the year 1465. and dy'd Ten years after leaving his Widow Helena behind him of whom more anon Alexander ascended the Throne about the year 1475. and dy'd in the year 1491. At what time Peter Covillian found the way into Ethiopia the first Portuguese that did so Amda-Tzejon (e) This Succession is taken out of Tellez and agrees with the vulgar Order of the Ethiopic Kings which Gregory himself did not contradict Alvarez here err'd very muth or else forgot himself for he apparently leaves out Ambda-Tzeon c. 59. and makes Alexander the Father of Naod c. 98. and 89. when he was really his Brother He also calls Helena the Mother of David when she was his Grandmother but only look'd upon as his Mother in respect of her care Neither is Tellezius without his Mistakes for L. 2. c. 4. He omits Ambda-Tzion and writes that Helena never had any Children his Son reign'd but a short time and dying without Male Issue made way for his Uncle Naod The Son of Baeda-Marjam who while his Brother Alexander possess'd the Government was shut up in the Rock Gheshen but the Male Issue failing he was call'd forth by the Nobility and reign'd Thirteen years He dy'd about the year 1505. Etana Dengel or Lebna-Denghel call'd afterwards David by his Inauguration Name Some few years expir'd he assum'd a third Name Wanag-Saghed which Tzagazab interprets Enkua-Saged or the Precious Gem. He was the second Son of Naod by his Wife Mogesa the Nephew of Baeda-Marjam For the Eldest whom Naod begat in the Rock of Amhanira Helena and Marcus the Metropolitan who had then the Government in their hands did not think worthy to Rule by reason of his Pride and Cruelty adding That he was born when his Father was but in a private Capacity before he came to the Crown unless it were that they thought that they should carry a greater sway during the Minority of the young Prince For then was David but Eleven years of Age as he himself declares in his Letter to King Emanuel Helena therefore his Grandmother took upon her the Management of Affairs as his Tut'ress being preferr'd before the Mother in regard the Junior Queens always give place to the Senior and then too she is always look'd upon as the King's Mother A Woman of great Prudence and Courage that has left a great Fame behind her still in Ethiopia insomuch that King Susneus would often praise her for her Virtue and Moderation She is famous
was hardly thought worthy so high an Employment and they were afraid of future shame for having acknowledg'd a false Embassadour After many and long delays at length they were satisfy'd and in return another Embassie was decreed to the Habessines and Odoardus Galvan was sent upon that Employment He dying by the way Rodorick Limez was sent in his room whose Priest was Francis Alvarez who left behind him an Itinerary written in the Portugueze Language in a plain and ordinary style tho afterwards for Curiositie's sake translated into several (a) By Michael de Selves into Spanish by others into Italian and Dutch Jovius promis'd also to do it into Latin but fail'd Languages Six Years Rodoric Limez resided in Ethiopia before he was dismiss'd by the King that he might be in a Capacity to make the same return of Kindness to the Portugals At length he sent him back joyning with him Tzagazaabus with Letters to the Pope and the King of Portugal flourish'd at the beginning with those usual Titles which we have already recited But what is to be admir'd 〈◊〉 Tzagazaabus arriv'd not at Rome till the Year 1539 being detain'd at Lisbon Certain other (b) Extant in Alvarez Damianus a Goez of the Ethiopian Customes and Tom. 11. Hispian Illustrat p. 1250. Letters were also recommended to Alvarez who carry'd them to Bononia and made a long Discourse of the Respect and Reverence which the Kings of Habessinia had to the See of Rome They were read before Clement the Seventh and the Emperour Charles the First with the general Applause of the Court of Rome but with no Success For that Claudius the King plainly deny'd to ratifie either those things or what John Bermudes afterwards related at Rome to the same effect as if never given in Command nor so understood but that the business of the Embassie and consequently the Letters themselves had bin faign'd and contriv'd by the Portugals However the Habessinians being reduc'd to very great streights at the Intercession of Bermudes had an assistance of Four hunder'd and fifty men granted and sent into Habessinia by the Command of John the Third But Peter Pays positively writes That this was done at the request of the Queen of Ethiopia And that Stephen Gomez who sail'd into the Red Sea to burn the Turkish Ships and by chance came to an Anchor before the Iland of Matzua after he had consulted his Councel of Warr resolv'd to send the said Supply as seeming to be for the honour of God and the King Of which Consultation there had certainly bin no need if the King had Commanded the Supply before However it were that Succour was not onely very necessary but very advantageous to the Habessines From which time the Habessines were not onely gratefully but honourably receiv'd among the Habessines nor did they then refuse the Latin Religion but frequently went to the Portugueze Chappels and admitted Them into Theirs Moreover they also gave Liberty to the Habessinian Women that were marry'd to the Portugueses to go to Mass with their Husbands and to partake of the same Ceremonies with them So that during the Raign of Claudius there was great Hopes both at Rome and at Lisbon that the Habessinians might be perswaded to embrace the Romish Religion But that Hope proving vain there was for some time a Cessation of Embassies and the Abessinian Friendship with the Lusitanians was almost interrupted untill by the Artifices of the Fathers of the Society the Minds of the later Kings were somewhat more inclinably dispos'd to give Obedience to the See of Rome Upon that Letters were written to the Pope and the King of Spain who was then also King of Portugal and answers upon them which gave an Occasion to Susneus to decree an Embassie into Europe To that purpose (c) Mistakenly Tecur-Egzy in Tellezius l. 2. c. 3. Fecur-Egzie was chosen and with him Antonie Fernandez was joyn'd who were commanded by unknown and by-ways to Travel Southward till they reach'd Melinda upon the Shore of the Indian Ocean from whence the Passage was more Easie and Safe into India Thereupon setting forth out of Gojam they Travell'd through Enarea from thence into the Kingdom of Zendero and so to Cambata the Last Kingdom under the Habessine Dominions Thence Travelling into Alaba they were forbid to go any farther by the Governour of the Province who was a Mahumetan He apprehended the Embassador with his Train and had not the Law of Nations bin of some force among the Barbarians for they had about them to shew both their Letters and Presents from the Emperour they had bin put to death with the Law in their own hands Being by that means set at Liberty after a Years and seven Months time spent in hard Travel after many sad Experiences of Savage Barbarity and a Thousand Jeopardies they return'd home without effecting any thing Nor can any reason be certainly given why those unknown and dangerous Ways were chosen thorough so many Barbarous Nations so many Wild and Desert Countries when the Road lay so plain through the Kingdom of Denoale in Friendship with the Abissines to the Port of Baylur which the Patriarch of Portugal afterwards securely made use of as if so tedious a Journey had bin impos'd upon the Undertakers not so much to go upon an Embassie as for the Discovery of Forraign Countries and By-Roads for the Direction of Travellers After that there happening a difference between them and the See of Rome all manner of Commerce and Communication with the Europeans ceas'd Insomuch that now they would with great reluctancy admit those whom before they so highly admir'd and with great difficulty would dismiss out of their affection to Arts and Sciences especially if they suspected them to be Clergy-men or under Religious Vows For which reason they try'd them first by offering a Wife to every Stranger Otherwise they rarely send any Embassadors abroad unless it be into Egypt when they have need of the Metropolitan For they are not onely ignorant of forraign Affairs and Languages but of the Ways and Roads of other Countries By reason of their Vicinity to the Turks and thence their frequent Commerce one with another sometimes they are forc'd to send Embassadors to Constantinople as in the Year 1660. So in the Year 1661 one Michael was sent thither with the wonted Presents a living Tecora several Skins of dead ones Pigmies and the like as Thevenot writes In the Year 1671 another Embassador was sent with some of those painted Beasts and Letters to the Dutch Governour of Batavia But they who are sent are generally Forrainers Maronites Armenians or else Arabians But as for what Leonardus Rauchwolf writes in his Itinerary it is altogether vain and false That Presbyter John having made a League with the Persians sent a Persian Bishop with so many Priests that in Two years time they converted Twenty Christian Cities to the Christian Religion It seems to be an old and confus'd
That being most graciously and kindly entertain'd by the King he dy'd in Habessinia Others that being honourably dismiss'd by the King he was murder'd by certain Arabian Thieves As for the Patriarch after a long Captivity and very bad Usage from the Turks he was at length set at Liberty after he had pay'd for himself and his Companions a Ransom of 4000 German Dolars and so at length got safe to Goa Where tho he were advis'd to go himself into Portugual and give an accompt of the afflicted State of Ethiopia he thought it the better way to send Jeronymo Lobo with order to desire the Aid of a sufficient Military Power to restore him to his lost See Thereupon the diligent Jesuit not only went into Portugal but also to Mantua to Philip the Fourth and from thence to Rome But all his Negotiations prov'd ineffectual whether it were that they did not think it at that instant so Apostolical a way to propagate the Gospel by force of Arms or whether it were that they did not like the Charge of an Expedition from whence they could hope for little good there being no considerable Party in the Kingdom to give them footing and the encouragement of Assistance For the King watchful over all casualties put all to Death that favour'd the Roman Fathers Which occasion'd the Ruin of many of the Nobility among the rest Tecla-Selax and several Priests that had taken Roman Orders and all the Fathers except Bernard Nogueyra whom the Patriarch had created his Vicar For tho the Patriarch attempted afterwards to send several other Fathers yet all their Endeavours were in vain so that for a long time he could learn no News concerning the State of Ecclesiastical Affairs in Habessinia For the King fearing lest the Portugueses should invade his Dominions in revenge of the Fathers had brib'd the Turkish Basha's of Suaqena and Matzua willing enough to that of themselves not to admit entrance to any of the Franks The News of which coming to Rome the Minds of men were variously affected The greatest part were sorry that all their fair hopes of retaining Ethiopia in Pontifical Obedience were quite cut off Others blam'd the Fathers of the Society that through their Arrogance and Imprudence in managing the Temper and Disposition of the Habessines they had ruin'd both themselves and the Roman Religion whereas they ought to have made it their Business to have acted chiefly and in the first place for the Majesty and Authority of the Pope over the Universal Church and willingly to have suffer'd all Miseries and Martyrdoms rather than have quitted their Station Tellez involves these particulars in a general Relation saying That several Malevolent Reports were spread about in Rome and some there were who gave out That the Fathers out of meer detestation of their Persons and hatred of the whole Nation of Portugal were ejected out of Habessinia and that if other Preachers were sent the Habessines would willingly embrace both them and their Doctrine Which was a thing to be done with much less Expence and more probable to come to effect than Lobo's Project of sending an Army Therefore the Congregation for propagating the Faith took another Course and sent Six Capuchin Fryers all Frenchmen with Letters of Recommendation and safe Conduct from the Emperor of the Turks himself with Orders to try what they could do in Habessinia Two of these going by Sea landed at Magadoso seated upon the Eastern Coast of Africa but before they could get many Leagues up into the Countrey they were knock't o' the head by the Cafers Two of them got as far as the Confines of Habessinia but being discover'd they were presently Commanded either to return back or make Profession of the Alexandrian Religion and upon their refusal to do either were presently ston'd to Death Of which when the other two that stay'd at Matzua had notice they rather chose to return home again than suffer Martyrdom to no purpose Book 3. Chap. 14. P 369 Three Capuchins beheaded in the yeare 1648 by the Comand of Basilides King of the Habessines 1 The Citie and Iland of Suaqin 2. The red Sea 3. The Turkish Basha Gouernour of the Iland 4. F. Felix de S. Severino 5. F. Antonio de Patra Pagana 6. F. Joseph Tortulano from the Italian Originall At length also Bernard Nogueira was apprehended the last of all the Fathers and fairly Hang'd As for the Patriarch Mendez he liv'd in India till the year 1656. Where in the 22d of his Exile and the 77th of his Age he dy'd upon the 29 day of January He was endu'd with most accomplish'd gifts both of Body and Mind very Tall and of a firm Constitution of Body well read both in the Greek and Latin and every way fitted for his Employment Neither had he wanted Prudence had not the King's Favour and Success which oftentimes intoxicate the Wisest of Men transported him out of the way to act with that violence and severity where gentleness and caution were so requisite By which means instead of gaining he was forc'd to suffer the shameful detriment of that Authority which he had too far extended Others as Gregory told me excus'd him for that upon his arrival he found things so far driven on by the Missionaries that he could not with Honour recede from what they had done Since the Death of the Patriarch we have had no certain Relations out of Habessinia In the year 1652. a new Metropolitan was sent into Ethiopia who had bin seen by many Europeans in Egypt and was succeeded afterwards by several others as we have gather'd from certain Relation From whence we may infer That the report of Tellez was a thing fram'd out of Envy as if the King of the Habessines had sent his Ambassadors into Arabia to desire thence Mahometan Doctors with an intention to embrace Turcism which no man can think probable from what has bin already related For how is it likely that he who could not Protect the splendid Religion of the Romish Church and the specious Doctrines of the Fathers because they were thought by the Habessines to be repugnant to Scripture and the Decrees of the Primitive Church should be able to admit of the Vanity and Absurdity of Mahumetism the Original and Progress of which is so well known to the Habessines already A Religion that did not prevail by suffering and well-doing like the Christian Religion but by force of Arms was obtruded upon Barbarous and Discording Nations The Clergy and Monks so wedded to their Alexandrian Religion would no more endure it than they did the superstition of Susneus So that should the King and his Peers be so vain as to attempt a thing so detestable to his People he could not expect but to be more vigorously and generally oppos'd than ever his Father was But lastly the King's Letters of the last Date to the Governor of Batavia beginning with a Christian Preface sufficiently demonstrate that he was